Sheldon Linker, Developer in Irvine, CA, United States
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Sheldon Linker

Verified Expert  in Engineering

Bio

Dr. Linker has been doing consulting and contract programming for decades. He has specialized in database work since 1978. His doctoral work involved AI and knowledge bases. He is also adept at programming servers, client systems, desktop systems, embedded systems, and a number of other types of systems. Sheldon has served in a database, programming, business analyst, and project management capacity. He currently teaches the latter two at the University of Maryland online.

Portfolio

University of Maryland
QA Testing, Performance Tuning, Cron, KornShell, Writing & Editing, Lecturing...
Linker Systems, Inc.
Acceptance Test-driven Development (ATDD), Agile Development, Analysis...
Freelance
QA Testing, Data Cleaning, Data Science, Big Data Architecture...

Experience

Availability

Full-time

Preferred Environment

Mainframe, Embedded Systems, Win32, .NET, Windows, Java, C++, Linux, Unix, SQL

The most amazing...

...project I've worked on was the Strategic Defense Initiative—I optimized a message-passing system, allowing throughput to enable taking out an incoming ICBM.

Work Experience

Adjunct Professor

2016 - PRESENT
University of Maryland
  • Taught students project management and operational techniques involving requirements gathering, requirements writing, choosing a project methodology, and QA.
  • Helped to write and improve new textbooks currently in use.
  • Maintained a 3-year running minimum of student outcomes and student satisfaction in the top 10%. As a result, I was awarded a bonus for my efforts.
  • Helped to update the curriculum for the software engineering requirements class (SWEN 645).
Technologies: QA Testing, Performance Tuning, Cron, KornShell, Writing & Editing, Lecturing, Management, Analytical Thinking, Debugging, Code Architecture, Business Analysis Consulting, Shell Script, Virtual Coaching, Unix, Excel Development, Architecture, Technical Instruction, C, Linux, Assembly, Business Intelligence Development, Reporting, Reports, Software QA, SDKs, Business Logic, Business Rules, Business Process Consulting, Analysis, Design Consulting, Agile Development, Waterfall Methodology, C, Technical Writing

Programmer | Developer | Designer | Manager

1984 - PRESENT
Linker Systems, Inc.
  • Rescued a number of failing projects through programming, forensics, setting management plans, and occasionally acting as manager.
  • Brought to get several systems from inception to fruition or from their current state to fruition. Performed my role both alone and as a part of a team, on a time-and-expense basis, and sometimes on a fixed-price basis.
  • Conducted research for several customers, the details of which I am unable to discuss. I also researched for my own company; the patent searches found at USPTO using Inventor=Sheldon And Inventor=Linker.
Technologies: Acceptance Test-driven Development (ATDD), Agile Development, Analysis, Analytical Thinking, Analytics Development, C, SQL, ANSI X.12, APIs, Architecture, Artificial Intelligence, AS/400, Active Server Pages (ASP), ASPX, Assembly, BASIC, Big Data Architecture, BI Reporting, Borland C, Business Analysis Consulting, Business Intelligence Development, Business Logic, Business Process Consulting, Business Rules, API, C, C#, C++, COBOL, Code Architecture, Column-oriented DBMS, ANSI X12, Complex Data Analysis, Design Consulting, Cron, Crystal Reports, CSS, CSV File Processing, Dashboard, Data, Data Aggregation, APL, Crystal Programming, Data Analysis, Data Science, Data Architecture, Database Analytics, Database, Database Design, Database, Database, Database Modeling, Database Optimization, Database Performance, Database, Database Schema Design, Database Table Optimization, Database, Database Triggers, Data Cleaning, Data Science, Data Engineering, Data Migration, Data Modeling, Data Science, Data Quality Analysis, Data Science, Data Visualization, Data Warehouse, Data Warehouse, DB, Debugging, Embedded C, C++, Embedded Systems Engineering, Enterprise Development, Enterprise Java Beans (EJB), ETL, ETL Development, ETL Implementation & Design, Excel VBA, Financial Reporting Dashboards, Financial Reporting, Fortran, Google Software, Hibernate, HTML, DB2, Indexing, ISAM, iSeries, Java, Java Native Interface (JNI), JavaScript, JCL, JSON, Java, Kofax, KornShell, Linux, Machine Learning, Mainframe, Management, Master Data, Microsoft Access Development, Excel Development, SQL Server, Modeling, MySQL, .NET, Node.js, NoSQL, Oracle Development, Oracle 12c, Oracle Development, Oracle RDBMS, Oracle SQL, Oracle Development, Performance Tuning, PHP, PL/I, PL/SQL, POSIX, PostgreSQL, Pro*C, Prolog, Python, QA Testing, Relational Database Design, Relational Databases, REST, RPGLE, SQL, SOAP, SDKs, SQL Server, SQL Server, SQL Server 2010, SQL Server 2015, SQL Server, SQL Server 2017, SSIS, Shell Script, SMTP, Service-oriented Architecture (SOA), SSH, SSL, Java, T-SQL, TV, Teradata, Oracle Development, Triggers, UML, UI Development, Unix, UDP, UX Development, UTF-8, Utilities, UNIX Utilities, Visio, Visual Basic, VB.NET, Visual Basic, VB.NET, Visual Basic, Web Development, Web UI, Win32, XML, Yacc, IBM z/OS, Data Validation, Technical Writing

Full-stack, Desktop, and Embedded Developer

1984 - PRESENT
Freelance
  • Improved the operational speed and normalization of databases for a number of clients.
  • Simplified the amount of code in use, and the time taken, by a number of clients' applications through rewriting and refactoring of code.
  • Improved system design resulting in shorter and clearer message flows and business processes.
  • Managed projects from the onset and from the point of original failure to successful completion.
  • Brought clients' website ideas from original sketches to finished websites, boxed products, and embedded products.
  • Closed security holes for a number of clients, including insurance and banking endeavors.
  • Helped in the transition from one system to another, such as SQL Server to Oracle and DB/2, from Borland C to C#, and from Amiga to Mac, Windows, and SGI.
  • Found and fixed a number of bugs for a variety of clients.
Technologies: QA Testing, Data Cleaning, Data Science, Big Data Architecture, Oracle Development, Enterprise Development, Performance Tuning, SDKs, Indexing, BI Reporting, ETL Development, Analysis, Business Process Consulting, Business Rules, Business Logic, T-SQL, POSIX, C++, Embedded C, RESTful Development, REST API, Data, Analytics Development, Hibernate, Cron, Pascal, KornShell, Prolog, SSRS Reports, Software QA, ASPX, REST, IBM z/OS, Acceptance Test-driven Development (ATDD), JCL, AS/400, Kofax, Data Visualization, Data Migration, Writing & Editing, Database Analytics, Data Engineering, APIs, Oracle 12c, PL/I, ETL Implementation & Design, Oracle RDBMS, DB, Column-oriented DBMS, Database Triggers, Stored Procedure, Database Modeling, Management, Yacc, Analytical Thinking, Master Data, Data Aggregation, Reports, Modeling, Debugging, Code Architecture, Complex Data Analysis, Data Quality Analysis, Triggers, Relational Database Services (RDS), Relational Database Design, Relational Data Mapping, Query Optimization, Database Table Optimization, Data Architecture, Database Optimization, Data Analysis, Data Modeling, Reporting, Business Analysis Consulting, ISAM, Shell Script, SQL Server, Python, Node.js, Database, Teradata, Agile Development, NoSQL, Visual Basic, Virtual Coaching, Machine Learning, Data Science, Artificial Intelligence, PostgreSQL, MySQL, VB.NET, Java, Web Architecture, API, Microsoft Access Development, Visual Basic, Business Intelligence Development, Excel Development, Data Warehouse, Data Warehouse, PHP, SSIS, SQL Server, SQL Server, ETL, DB2, Oracle SQL, Oracle Development, Oracle Development, SQL, Database, SQL, Database, Relational Databases, SQL, Database, Database Design, Database, PL/SQL, C, Data Science, Data Science, JavaScript, HTML, Fortran, CSS, Crystal Programming, COBOL, C#, C++, BASIC, Assembly, Active Server Pages (ASP), APL, Architecture, Financial Reporting Dashboards, Financial Reporting, CSV File Processing, Database, Design Consulting, Oracle Development, SQL Server 2017, Database Performance, Database Schema Design, Waterfall Methodology, Agile Development, SQL, Linux, Windows Development, Unix, .NET, Mainframe, Win32, Borland C, Pro*C, SQL Server 2010, JSON, Java, SQL, C, Data Validation

Technical Advisor

2024 - 2024
INVISTA Company - Managed Delivery
  • Worked in a team of two and created an automatic translation of Fortran to Python using Java.
  • Taught others how to do parsing of non-SLR languages, such as Fortran.
  • Taught others how to write an optimizer, in this case, to translate the Fortran jump-style code into Python's structured code.
Technologies: Fortran, Technical Leadership, Code Review, Python, Architecture

Programmer | Developer | Designer

2002 - 2020
The PIASC
  • Redesigned their database and communication with the database for speed and accuracy.
  • Sped up many of their reports and batch processes, for instance, changed their accounting run from 25 hours to less than an hour.
  • Took over and managed their web project to get the site online and fully integrated with their desktop applications, fixing security flaws in the process.
  • Automated many manual functions so that on the programming side, fewer team members were needed, and on the customer representative side, more time could be spent with customers.
Technologies: .NET, Borland C, C++, C#, Oracle Development, SQL Server 2017, Windows Development, HTML, CSS, ASPX, PL/SQL, Kofax, Google Software, Crystal Reports, Excel VBA, SQL, Data Science, Data Science, Data Science, C, Database, Database Design, Database, SQL, T-SQL, Relational Databases, Database, SQL, Database, SQL, Oracle Development, Oracle SQL, ETL, SQL Server, Data Warehouse, Data Warehouse, Excel Development, Business Intelligence Development, Visual Basic, API, Web Architecture, Virtual Coaching, Visual Basic, Business Analysis Consulting, Reporting, Data Modeling, Data Analysis, Data Architecture, Database Optimization, Database Table Optimization, Query Optimization, Relational Data Mapping, Relational Database Design, Triggers, Data Quality Analysis, Complex Data Analysis, Code Architecture, Debugging, Modeling, Reports, Data Aggregation, Master Data, Analytical Thinking, Management, Database Modeling, Stored Procedure, Database Triggers, Column-oriented DBMS, DB, Oracle RDBMS, Crystal Programming, ETL Implementation & Design, Oracle 12c, APIs, Data Engineering, Database Analytics, REST, Software QA, Win32, Data, REST API, RESTful Development, SDKs, Business Logic, Business Rules, Business Process Consulting, Analysis, ETL Development, BI Reporting, Performance Tuning, Enterprise Development, Data Science, Data Cleaning, QA Testing, Financial Reporting Dashboards, Financial Reporting, CSV File Processing, Database, Design Consulting, Oracle Development, Database Performance, Database Schema Design, Agile Development, Waterfall Methodology, SQL Server 2010, Dashboard, SQL Server, SQL, C, ANSI X12, ANSI X.12, Data Validation

Programmer | Developer | Designer

2007 - 2017
Friar Tux Shop
  • Enhanced the website and integrated it with other systems.
  • Set up an internal information website to help with inventory management and processing.
  • Enhanced their internal flow, including adding specialty print drivers for tag printers.
Technologies: SQL Server 2015, SSIS, T-SQL, Crystal Reports, HTML, VBScript, Active Server Pages (ASP), Java, SQL, Data Science, Data Science, C, Windows Development, Database, Database Design, Database, SQL, Relational Databases, Database, Database, SQL, ETL, JavaScript, SQL Server, Excel Development, Business Intelligence Development, Visual Basic, Web Architecture, VB.NET, .NET, Visual Basic, SQL Server, Business Analysis Consulting, Reporting, Data Modeling, Data Analysis, Data Architecture, Query Optimization, Relational Data Mapping, Relational Database Design, Code Architecture, Debugging, Reports, Data Aggregation, Analytical Thinking, Database Modeling, Stored Procedure, Column-oriented DBMS, DB, REST, Software QA, SSRS Reports, Win32, BASIC, Data, REST API, RESTful Development, SDKs, Business Logic, Business Rules, Business Process Consulting, Analysis, BI Reporting, QA Testing, Design Consulting, SQL Server 2017, Waterfall Methodology, SQL Server 2010, SQL

Programmer

2001 - 2016
Delta Dental Plans Association
  • Sped up some processes as much as 1600x by reworking the algorithms, and by adding code to decide on the best algorithm for a given job.
  • Added a website for employers to manage employee eligibility.
  • Added EDI processing so that the system could read transactions in a number of formats.
  • Enhanced their reporting system, so that it could generate a broader range of reports more quickly, and replaced two pages of controls on a complicated report generator to a field that took an English description of what was needed.
Technologies: AS/400, C, Pro*C, RPGLE, iSeries, Crystal Reports, Visual Basic, Java, Windows Development, Enterprise Java Beans (EJB), Java, XML, Microsoft Access Development, HTML, JavaScript, Visio, UML, SharePoint Design, Oracle Development, Data Science, Data Science, PL/SQL, Database, Database Design, Database, SQL, Relational Databases, Database, SQL, Database, SQL, DB2, ETL, Data Warehouse, Data Warehouse, Business Intelligence Development, Web Architecture, VB.NET, Visual Basic, SQL Server, Reporting, Data Modeling, Data Analysis, Data Architecture, Database Optimization, Database Table Optimization, Query Optimization, Relational Data Mapping, Relational Database Design, Triggers, Data Quality Analysis, Complex Data Analysis, Code Architecture, Debugging, Modeling, Reports, Data Aggregation, Master Data, Analytical Thinking, Database Modeling, Stored Procedure, Database Triggers, Column-oriented DBMS, DB, Crystal Programming, ETL Implementation & Design, Oracle 12c, APIs, Database Analytics, REST, Mainframe, Software QA, Win32, BASIC, Data, REST API, RESTful Development, SDKs, Business Logic, Business Rules, Business Process Consulting, Analysis, ETL Development, BI Reporting, Performance Tuning, Enterprise Development, Data Science, Data Cleaning, QA Testing, Financial Reporting, CSV File Processing, Database, Design Consulting, Database Performance, Waterfall Methodology, SQL, C, ANSI X12, ANSI X.12, Data Validation

Programmer

2006 - 2008
Kofax
  • Ported their SQL Server T-SQL code to run on all variants of Oracle's PL/SQL, including the capability for the Kofax system to act as a DBA in the target environment.
  • Ported their SQL Server T-SQL code to run on all variants of IBM's DB/2, including the capability for the Kofax system to act as a DBA in the target environment.
  • Reengineered their SQL Server T-SQL code, to act much faster, and to do its own DBA work to make the database structure much faster.
Technologies: Visual Basic, C#, .NET, C++, T-SQL, SQL Server 2010, Oracle Development, PL/SQL, Unix, Linux, Windows Development, IBM z/OS, SQL, Database, Database Design, Database, SQL, Relational Databases, Database, Database, SQL, Oracle Development, Oracle SQL, DB2, SQL Server, SQL Server, Business Intelligence Development, Database Optimization, Query Optimization, Relational Data Mapping, Data Quality Analysis, Code Architecture, Debugging, Analytical Thinking, Stored Procedure, Column-oriented DBMS, DB, Oracle RDBMS, ETL Implementation & Design, Oracle 12c, Kofax, Mainframe, Software QA, Win32, Data, SDKs, Business Logic, Business Rules, ETL Development, Performance Tuning, Data Science, Data Cleaning, QA Testing, Database, Database Performance, Agile Development, Waterfall Methodology, SQL, Data Validation

QA | Programmer

2006 - 2006
DIRECTV
  • Added channel-hopping and compression-related features so that older satellites could be retired without replacement.
  • Found a number of bugs and documented them as a QA tech. Switched to a programmer role and fixed those that had not yet been fixed.
  • Added an extension to the file system so that rolling-buffer files could be used with raw open, read, write, tell, seek, and close calls.
Technologies: C, C++, Java, Java Native Interface (JNI), XML, Shell Script, Linux, HTML, SOAP, UML, Relational Databases, API, NoSQL, Code Architecture, Debugging, Analytical Thinking, APIs, REST, Software QA, Data, REST API, RESTful Development, Business Logic, Business Rules, QA Testing, Design Consulting, C

Writer

1972 - 1973
Byte Magazine
  • Wrote published articles on software and hardware topics.
  • Republished some of my articles in the best of issues.
  • Responded to letters to the editors' items on occasion.
Technologies: Electronics, Freelance Programming, Technical Writing

JCB™ English and JCB Robotics

A knowledge base and AI that can learn, understand, and make intelligent decisions. Additionally, JCB Robotics can reject a command based on safety or morality grounds. This patent can be searched on USPTO.gov.
2008 - 2011

PhD in Computer Science and Software Engineering

Auburn University - Auburn, AL, United States

2006 - 2008

Master of Science Degree in Computer Science

University of Illinois - Springfield, IL, United States

2004 - 2006

Bachelor of Science Degree in Applied Science and Technology

Thomas Edison State College - Trenton, NJ, United States

1973 - 1977

Coursework in Electrical Engineering

University of California - Berkeley and Los Angeles, CA, United States

APRIL 2019 - PRESENT

Kofax Capture

Kofax

Libraries/APIs

POSIX, ASPX, Node.js, REST API

Tools

Oracle Development, Borland C, Crystal Reports, Visio, Microsoft Word, JCL, Microsoft Access Development, Excel Development, Cron, Oracle Development

Languages

APL, Assembly, C, C++, C#, Fortran, HTML, Java, JavaScript, PHP, PL/I, SQL, Crystal Programming, Stored Procedure, Embedded C, C++, T-SQL, C, Active Server Pages (ASP), Visual Basic, COBOL, CSS, VB.NET, XML, Pascal, Prolog, Visual Basic, Python, BASIC, Excel VBA, VBScript, Pro*C, RPGLE, UML, Visual Basic, VB.NET, Visual Basic

Paradigms

Management, ETL, Database Design, ETL Implementation & Design, Database, Agile Development, Event-driven Architecture, Business Intelligence Development, API, Web Architecture, Acceptance Test-driven Development (ATDD), REST, Agile Development, RESTful Development, Service-oriented Architecture (SOA)

Platforms

Linux, Windows Development, Oracle Development, AS/400, IBM z/OS, Linux, KornShell, Unix, Win32, SharePoint Design, Web Development

Storage

DB2, PL/SQL, Database, SQL Server, Database, Database Modeling, SQL Server, SSIS, SQL, Relational Databases, Database Triggers, Database, SQL, Database, Column-oriented DBMS, SQL, Oracle Development, Oracle 12c, Oracle SQL, DB, Oracle RDBMS, SQL Server 2017, Database Performance, SQL Server 2010, SQL Server, SQL, Data Validation, SQL, MySQL, PostgreSQL, JSON, Teradata, Database, NoSQL, SQL Server, Oracle Development, Redis

Frameworks

Java, Java, .NET, Hibernate

Industry Expertise

Virtual Coaching

Other

Shell Script, ISAM, Yacc, Business Analysis Consulting, Reporting, Data Modeling, Data Analysis, Data Architecture, Database Optimization, Database Table Optimization, Query Optimization, Relational Data Mapping, Relational Database Design, Relational Database Services (RDS), Triggers, Data Science, Data Quality Analysis, Data Science, Complex Data Analysis, Code Architecture, Debugging, Modeling, Reports, Data Aggregation, Data Science, Master Data, Analytical Thinking, Data, SDKs, Business Logic, Business Rules, Business Process Consulting, Analysis, ETL Development, BI Reporting, Indexing, Performance Tuning, Data Science, Data Cleaning, Architecture, CSV File Processing, Design Consulting, Database Schema Design, Waterfall Methodology, Technical Instruction, SQL Server 2015, iSeries, Java Native Interface (JNI), Freelance Programming, Optimization, Linear Optimization, Nonlinear Optimization, Performance, Software Architecture, Real-time Data, Solution Architecture, Kofax, Data Migration, Writing & Editing, Lecturing, Data Warehouse, APIs, Data Warehouse, Data Engineering, Database Analytics, Data Visualization, Analytics Development, Enterprise Development, Big Data Architecture, QA Testing, Financial Reporting Dashboards, Financial Reporting, SOAP, Dashboard, ANSI X12, ANSI X.12, Enterprise Java Beans (EJB), PDF, Templates, Technical Writing, Concurrent Computing, Networking, Software QA, Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Embedded Systems Engineering, Mainframe, SSRS Reports, Google Software, SMTP, SSH, SSL, TV, UI Development, UDP, UX Development, UTF-8, Utilities, UNIX Utilities, Web UI, Technology, Electronics, Technical Leadership, Code Review, Deployment, Supabase, CI/CD Pipelines

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